Jamie Gold

Jamie Gold is well-known for his domination at the World
Series of Poker No Limit Hold'em Championship in 2006, where he
received his first and only WSOP gold bracelet, which he will
always have to remind him of his success that day.

In addition to performing well at the WSOP, Gold is a
well-established television producer, having teamed up to help
many famous actors and actresses launch their careers, including
Jimmy Fallon and Lucy Lui.

Early Years

Jamie Usher was born August 25th, 1969 in Kansas City,
Missouri. His parents got divorced when he was quite young, so
he ended up moving out of state with his mother. After she got
remarried, Jamie picked up his step father's last name, Gold.
His mother was an excellent poker player and his grandfather was
actually a professional gin rummy player, so the love of the
game certainly runs in the family.

Gold graduated with degrees from the New York State
University and the University of California in LA (UCLA) that
focus on entertainment law. His interest in the entertainment
business started when he was only sixteen years old and was an
intern at the J. Michael Bloom & Associates Talent Agency. While
still in college, he accepted a job in the company as a talent
agent and before he knew it he was moving into their
management/production department. By the time he finished his
Bachelor's degree, he had built up quite a decent clientele.

The 2006 World Series of Poker

Gold was first introduced to the very talented Johnny Chan
and Chris Moneymaker, when they were interested in developing
the WSOP television special, "Grudge Matches." Chan, winner of
10 World Series of Poker bracelets, volunteered to give Gold
advice and tips on how to become a better poker player. It
wasn't long before Gold began regularly playing in poker
tournaments.

In April 2005, at the Bicycle Casino, he won his first major
No Limit Texas Hold 'em tournament for $54,000. Over the next
twelve months, Gold won six events at the Hustler Casino and had
several more in the money finishes at various California
casinos. His ultimate goal was to compete in the WSOP.

Gold entered the 2006 World Series of Poker main event,
outlasting over 8,000 players and winning a whopping $12,000,000
for his first place finish. Gold is remembered for eating
blueberries during the entire tournament, jokingly claiming that
the "brain food" helped his performance.

Bluff magazine, made a few comments on Gold's playing style
during the WSOP saying, "He forced his tablemates to risk their
entire stack time after time. If they reraised him, he either
knew they were holding the nuts and folded, or he sniffed out a
bluff and forced them all in." No matter what people's views are
on the matter, Gold still managed to come up on top.

We later find out that Gold had agreed to find professional
poker players to endorse Bodog if in exchange they paid his
entry into the main event. Bodog held up their end of the
bargain, but Gold chose to keep the $12 million profit and leave
them in the dust. Bodog pressed charges against Gold, resulting
in half of his winnings being retracted and placed into a frozen
account. They later came to terms outside of court, but they
didn't release any details to the public regarding their
settlement.

Gold's triumphant victory and the controversy behind it lead
to him becoming the second most searched name on Google in 2006,
falling close behind Paris Hilton.

Life after his Victory

Gold returned to defend his title at the 2007 WSOP, but was
eliminated on the first day for showing his hole cards to the
opposing players. When it came to the WSOP in Europe, he managed
to control his action and placed 35th in the main event. He
still enters poker tournaments every now and again, but he
focuses more on his career in the entertainment business these
days.

Gold often makes guest appearances on televised poker shows
including episodes of NBC's Poker After Dark and Game Show
Network's High Stakes Poker. In addition to that, he loves
competing in charitable poker events, having participated in
over 200 different events and raising over $300,000 so far.
After winning the 2007 Montel Williams Multiple Sclerosis
Foundation Poker Tournament, he donated all of the prize money
back to the foundation.